General Instructions

Submitting a manuscript

Manuscripts are submitted online through the journal website. Authors need a registered account on the site to submit and to follow the progress of their submission. The submitting author is responsible for communicating with the journal throughout the editorial process.

Originality

A submitted manuscript must be original work that has not been published before and is not under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Initial editorial screening

Every submission is first assessed by an editor to check that it fits the journal's Aims and Scope and meets basic quality standards. Submissions that do not meet these requirements may be declined at this stage without peer review. Manuscripts that pass the screening are sent for peer review before a decision is made to accept or reject them.

Before you submit

Obtain permission to publish any material included with the submission, such as images, documents and datasets.
Make sure that every person listed as an author has agreed to be named as an author.
Where applicable, obtain approval from an appropriate ethics committee in line with the legal requirements of the country where the study was carried out.
Check that all references are accurate and complete, and that all tables and figures are numbered and labelled.
Prepare the manuscript as described in Manuscript Preparation.
Complete the submission checklist on the Submissions page.